start spreading the news ...

well. i am not a globetrotting kind of person.

but when i look back at my year i am amazed that i have seen so many places and that i took so many nice trips in 2010 that lead me away from my regular paths. berlin, istanbul ... and guess what, i am practically on my way to new york city now. it will be a trip with my department from university and it is pretty well planned (they have a lot of arty and touristy stuff covered), but i also want to sneak off every now and then and do stuff on my own.

i especially intend to eat my way around new york. or maybe i should watch a few episodes of sex and the city in preparation for my trip?

or perhaps you want to help me fill my google map with personal tips off the beaten track? that would be really nice!

oh, and if you want to get in contact and maybe even join a little european girl wandering around manhattan - don't be shy! get in touch via email! it would be really cool to meet fellow foodbloggers!

... i am really getting excited now ... !

dish towel salad dressing

i am a frugal person living on a budget and i just HATE seeing food go to waste. especially since i usually buy the more expensive organic version of things.

would you throw your money in the composte bin?
i wouldn't either.

so i was wondering how i could handle my "salad problem" better. i often ended up eating bigbig portions of salad because i would fear i'd have to throw out a half eaten lettuce a few days later. i had to throw out several half eaten heads of lettuce nonetheless!


thank the fsm for apartment therapy and their food section "the kitchn". i recently tried their method on how to store greens and i have to say this approach is just perfect for me.


you should check that method out too and have crisp and fresh salad all week long!

we are friends, right?

here's the thing:
i really like you.
you leave comments.
you send emails.
hey, we bond! we connect! we share!

while comments on me going all organic lately are the virtual pat on the shoulder i can't help but wonder why i only see well photographed and mouthwatering recipes in food blogs and i myself strive to only show you pretty dishes too. shouldn't we be able to share the not so successful things as well? why is it that i am so obsessed with only showing off my good side here? shouldn't i be able to tell you about the terrible food i eat? the unhealthy stuff? the recipes i fail at? well, i certainly should!

but i don't want to show you recipes that don't photograph well.
and i don't want to show you the mess i made in the kitchen.
i certainly don't want to show you humiliating shrink-wrapped food!

why is that?

because i want your approval.
i want to look good here!

so in an act of confession i will lower myself into the catacombs of convenience food and i'm going to show you the dinner i just ate.

i have been a fan of texmex-food for a while now and i have never even attempted to cook it from scatch. never made tortillas myself, never bought spices for seasoning, i believe the only ingredient i add is the minced meat, the cheese and the avocado. i don't even know how to fold those babies, i just wrap them up as tight as humanly possible, throw them in a little dish and stick them in the oven for a few minutes. i believe every texmex fan would slap me in the face for that.







shouldn't we share our failures as well? in real life that's the part where you learn something: you make a mistake, you try again, you get help and guidance from friends and you become better in what you do. and you most likely never make that mistake again.

hey, somebody should really invent a food blog event that deals with failures in cooking.
like: "the worst accident in my kitchen" of the month for terrible flops or "the dish that tastes great but looks like sh**" of the month for improving photographical skills ... readers could leave comments to help you on!

but on the other hand: do i really like to see a gazillion blogs with terrible photos of uninspired tv dinners? i doubt that. i have my hands full with all the blogs i want to follow, i couldn't possibly handle hundreds more.

we could make a compromise, dear friend, shall we? i am really bad at asking for help. like really really bad. i am too proud, i always want to do things on my own. so in order to loosen up a bit i could write my food questions on my dinner for one table here. because i often have questions and i almost always lack the resources to have them answered. not many of my friends are obsessed with food. and i never dare to ask if something does not turn out the way i expected. as i said, i am really bad at asking for help. but you could be my kitchen aid (pun intended!). i think i feel comfortable enought now to ask you for help. i think i should even make a whole new blogger label for that.

just needed to get that off my chest, sorry for interrupting.
thanks for listening, friend.

ps: being really new to the foodblog scene at the time (and having no idea what a food blog event is), here's an interesting challenge from november 2005. rachel at fresh aproach cooking hosted my blog went up in flames back then - thank you for drawing my attention to this, sam!